Under My Thumb (CultureClash Theatre and Greenwich Theatre)

Down in the basement of Assembly Roxy, five exceptionally talented women act out a chilling dystopian story; their experience of imprisonment after committing “crimes against society”. It echoes some of the ideas in Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ except here the intimacy of the theatrical setting makes it far more confrontational. These women reject the viewers’ detachment from their characters – you act as the walls to their cell and they immerse you in their pain and suffering. Video interviews with the prisoners play against the back wall, adding an extra dimension to the performance, and keeping the audience constantly engaged with the plot. It’s not exactly an enjoyable experience, but it is one that will leave you reeling.